Microsoft want to try to keep certain executives from leaving following the exit of CEO Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft continues its search for a new chief executive officer following the decision by current CEO Steve Ballmer to retire sometime in the next year. Now it looks like Microsoft is concerned some of its other top leaders might decide to follow Ballmer and leave the company. So Microsoft has decided it might offer them some nice bonuses to stick around.

In a filing this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Microsoft said it has made some new amendments to its Corporation Executive Officer Incentive Plan. It said that from "time to time" it will offer some "special rewards" to certain people at Microsoft. One of the reasons for such an offer is to preserve the "continuity of key leaders during the transition to a new chief executive officer."

The bonuses to these executives will be in the form of extra Microsoft stock and will range from 25 percent to 150 percent of an employee's regular annual compensation. The filing made no mention of any specific Microsoft executives who might get these bonuses.